Shotgun Players’ 2023 season is the product of distributed power

 Shotgun Players’ 2023 season is the product of distributed power


Leigh Rondon-Davis (left) and Dixon Phillips in Shotgun Gamers’ “A Small Fireplace.” Picture: Ben Krantz / Shotgun Gamers

At Shotgun Players, the 2023 season isn’t the monolithic product of 1 chief’s imaginative and prescient.

Many Bay Space theaters are working to decentralize management within the wake of the 2020 racial reckoning and the pandemic, each to reduce the burdens on an individual and to democratize power. Final yr, the South Berkeley theater instituted a software that places it on the forefront of that effort: the season choice committee.

There are seven committee members — three firm artists who rotate on three-year phrases and 4 staffers — and the group operates by consensus, with every member granted veto energy, defined Affiliate Inventive Director Leigh Rondon-Davis, who makes use of gender-neutral pronouns.

If that mannequin seems like it might result in heated conversations, Rondon-Davis stated, “surprisingly, and splendidly, it doesn’t.”

Leigh Rondon-Davis at Shotgun Gamers’ Sassafras gala. Picture: Melissa Nigro / Shotgun Gamers 2018

“We’ve plenty of love and belief inside our group,” they went on, “and after we’ve had folks say, ‘I actually suppose this play might trigger hurt,’ individuals are like, ‘Cool, I respect that. I imagine you. I’m able to acknowledge that there are views or experiences that I don’t have.’ ”

The corporate’s 2023 season, introduced Saturday, Nov. 5, begins with “The Triumph of Love” (March 25-April 23). Pierre de Marivaux’s 1732 comedy, tailored by Stephen Wadsworth, is all cross-dressing disguises and ridiculous seductions. Rondon-Davis likens it to “the ‘Scooby-Doo’ montages the place they’re all operating across the room and coming out of various doorways.” Inventive Director Patrick Dooley directs.

Director Katja Rivera (proper) works with actors Yohana Ansari-Thomas and Neiry Rojo throughout a rehearsal for “Far, Far Higher Issues” at Shotgun Gamers rehearsal studios in Berkeley. Picture: Michael Brief / Particular to The Chronicle 2019

Subsequent is “Yerma” (Might 20-June 18), Federico García Lorca’s basic tragedy a couple of girl determined to turn into a mom. Boston playwright and actor Melinda Lopez interprets and adapts, and Katja Rivera makes her major stage directing debut with the corporate, utilizing a completely Latino solid.

“I believe it’s going to really feel actually resonant, so devastatingly or simply so infuriatingly on this second, when the reproductive rights and the bodily autonomy of so many individuals are being stripped away,” Rondon-Davis stated.

Fall brings “Wolf Play” (Sept. 2-Oct. 1), a couple of Korean boy who feels nearer to wolves than he does folks. For Rondon-Davis, it asks, “What’s household? Who permits you to be and who sees your true, full self?”

Elizabeth Carter, who final yr was named the Lloyd Richards New Futures Resident Artist at Oregon Shakespeare Pageant, directs the script by South Korean playwright Hansol Jung.

Solid member Elizabeth Carter (left) and director Josh Costello on the set of “Eureka Day” on the Aurora Theatre Firm in Berkeley. Picture: Michael Macor / The Chronicle 2018

Queer themes proceed in “Hedwig and the Indignant Inch” (Oct. 28-Dec. 3), the John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask glam-rock musical a couple of botched sex-change operation, the autumn of the Berlin Wall, and the identity-creating energy of rock and roll.

Mexican American director Richard Mosqueda plans to solid “brown” actors for the manufacturing, in response to Rondon-Davis.

The season concludes in 2024 with the world premiere of “Babes in Ho-lland” (Jan. 13-Feb. 4). Brooklyn playwright Deneen Reynolds-Knott writes about two Black ladies attempting to create an oasis for themselves at a predominantly white school. Rondon-Davis directs and, given the present’s give attention to youth, plans to rent rising designers who will work alongside mentors.

Subscriptions can be found at 510-841-6500 or www.shotgunplayers.org.




  • Lily Janiak

    Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicle’s theater critic. Electronic mail: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *